Grayson Collin News
Cold Weather Creates Higher Usage Resulting in Higher Bills
Recently Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative has had an influx of concern from members about high bills. We understand that thus far we have encountered a mild winter – however, the cold snap we experienced caused a large spike in usage.
The graphs below show how cold temperatures can significantly increase energy usage. The red and blue lines are the day’s high and low temperatures. As an Arctic blast arrived on Jan. 14, these member’s DAILY usage (as seen in the green, orange and blue usage bars) nearly doubled or tripled their average usage. On average all these members had normal energy usage – until the cold weather arrived and stayed until the 17th. On Jan. 14, the high was about 22 degrees and the low dropped to about13. If the thermostat is set to 75, that’s a major 50+-degree difference during the day and 60+-degree difference at night that the heating unit must overcome. Compare that to the 25-degree difference an air conditioner must overcome to keep indoor temperatures at 75 degrees on a 100-degree day.
As the weather moved into our service area, all four members used approximately as much energy in those four days as they had the entire 13 days prior. For reference, one graph shows an entire electric house, second graph reflects a meter on a barn which also has a pool, hot tub, and a RV plugged into it, the third is an all-electric house with a wood burning fireplace with a pool, and finally a member with a gas fireplace, stove, and oven.
Although you may not have touched your thermostat, with outside temperatures dropping so dramatically, heating units must use more electricity to maintain the desired temperature indoors. We also want to emphasize that while heat pumps do use less energy and are far more efficient than space heaters(space heaters can also significantly increase your usage), heat pumps become less efficient and often switch to “emergency heat” or “resistance heat” when temperatures drop to the lower 30s. That can increase energy usage by up to three times!
You can find energy saving tips on our website www.gcec.net under the energy efficiency tab.
We are here to serve you and understand the frustration a higher than anticipated bill can cause. Our Member Services Department can be reached at 903-482-7100and our friendly MSR’s will be happy to discuss with you your bill and usage. We also offer free energy audits to help you better understand your homes energy usage.
Recent News
Grayson-Collin Safety and Loss Control Prepares for the Future
Grayson-Collin Safety and Loss Control Prepares for the Future
Nathan Tillett becomes a Certified Loss Control Professional
Madison, Wisconsin (August 2026): Grayson-Collin Safety and Loss Control, Nathan Tillett has completed an intensive program in electric utility safety and loss control. The certified Loss Control Program isa series of workshops offered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in conjunction with the National Utility Training & Safety Education Association. The program is designed to instruct participants in many areas related to electric utility industry safety.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, nearly 4 million injuries occur annually in the workplace. One of the goals of a Certified Loss Control Professional is to help ensure a safe work environment for utility workers and the public in general. Avoiding workplace accidents avoids down time and can ultimately lead to lower utility rates.
Nathan Tillett is one of only a few electric utility professionals in the country that will receive this certification this year. The program requires participants to complete a rigorous series of seminars and tests, a 30-hour OSHA course, and a detailed final course project.
Loss Control participants go through four week-long sessions that are designed to challenge and educate participants in new, innovative safety techniques. Participants must also maintain their certificate by attending courses every year to stay on top of changes in the industry.
Nathan Tillett has been with Grayson-Collin Cooperative for 22 years. Nathan began his career as a groundman, worked through 3rd, 2nd, and 1st class proficiencies. He worked as a foreman for several years before moving into the safety and training department, working as a safety coordinator and most recently became our Manager of Loss Control. We tip our hard hats to him and his dedication to serving our members and upholding a high standard of safety for our operations team.
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Possible survey in your upcoming Texas Co-op Power
We wanted to give you a heads up that you might be receiving a reader survey in the next few weeks. Some of our members may receive a questionnaire by mail and we just wanted to let you know it was legitimate in case our members had any questions. A crisp $1 bill is included with the survey and you may keep it even if you choose not to complete and return the survey—but we hope they will provide feedback as it’s extremely valuable to the Texas Co-op Power publishing team in Austin.
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